I got a new guinea pig!

I am HONESTLY not on here to get yelled at, but the other day I decided to get my friend's guinea pig's sister from the pet store. (hard to say) I did it because I was sad that she had been there for a week and nobody else wanted her. She was all by herself so I got her and that is when they told me she MIGHT be pregnant. I know about complications but if I didn't get her then who would? I am kind of excited but also terrified about complications. The pet store woner told me she is at the most 2 weeks pregnant (if she is) and I was wondering if and when I will be able to tell for sure if she really is. I cannot take her to a vet because I'm kind of on a tight budget. (?) Plus my dog's vet is NOT cavy savy. (sp?) Also, she didn't eat or drink anything for the first day with me (my other guinea pig did the same thing when I first got her), and could this affect her and her babies? (if she is pregnant) By the way I named her truffles and she is an all black abyssinian. (Just a fun fact )

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

It *is* your fault, because you CHOSE to get a guinea pig, knowing that you can't afford to take her to the vet. You knew she was pregnant, you knew there is the possibility of complications, yet you CHOSE to get her anyways. So what are you going to do if she has complications? What if she needs a C-section? What if she develops toxemia? Are you just going to sit by and let her suffer and die? And then what are you going to do with the babies? Are you going to hand-rear them? Are you going to give them back to the pet store?

You also bought a guinea pig from a pet store because you felt sorry for her. Are you going to feel sorry for the next one or two who take her place? Are you going to be able to buy them and take them in as well? Won't they deserve your pity and a good home, too? What about all the shelter animals out there? By buying that guinea pig, you've condemned a shelter pig to either be euthanized or to have to live in a shelter that much longer.

You may love your guinea pig, but when it comes to the responsibility of owning animals, love alone is not enough. You need to be financially solvent enough to take your pets to the vet if they need it.

It almost sounds like that pet store bred her on purpose. If they didn't, and it was an accident, they sure found a way to pawn off *their* responsibility.

Please, next time, adopt your pet rather than supporting pet stores. And please don't take any more animals in until you're financially able to bear the responsibility.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

First off I never said I wouldn't take her to the vet if there were complications. I said I couldn't take her NOW to see if she is pregnant or not. All i asked was how to tell if she was or not! I plan on keeping ALL the guinea pigs and giving one or two males (if any) to my friend who will willingly accept and provide a good home for them. It is not the pet stores fault. It was in the cage with a brother whom at the time they did not know was a boy. (now my friend has it) If I didn't get one from a pet store I wouldn't have gotten one at all, too far of a drive to the "adoption". You obviously do not know me and my situation. So don't assume that I am not responsible enough to care for my guinea pigs. I just asked for a simple way to check to see if she was pregnant without going to the vet. THATS ALL.

p.s. What if i didn't get her at all? Are you just expecting me to just leave her and her possible babies to die just beacause she was sold to a pet store? I am not liek that. Like you said most people would get a guinea pig from a shelter. But what about those poor guinea pigs sold to pet stores with no chance? Then what?

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

I am HONESTLY not on here to get yelled at, but the other day I decided to get my friend's guinea pig's sister from the pet store.

I love it when people come on here and say "I am not here to get yelled at", but then turn around and post stuff they know will disgruntle the members.

It is not the pet stores fault. It was in the cage with a brother whom at the time they did not know was a boy.

Yes, it IS the petstores fault. They are the ones who should know how to sex the guinea pigs properly and keep them separated.

If I didn't get one from a pet store I wouldn't have gotten one at all, too far of a drive to the "adoption".

Maybe you shouldn't have gotten one at all. Just how far of a drive is it to your nearest shelter/rescue? If it's no more than an hour or two I don't want to hear excuses. There are people on this board who have driven several hours to rescue a guinea pig. You just opted for the "convenient" way out, to "buy" a pig that will be replaced by more and sentence a shelter pig to death.

What if i didn't get her at all? Are you just expecting me to just leave her and her possible babies to die just beacause she was sold to a pet store?

Then the petstore would have the responsibility of her vet care if she would need it and the petstore would be responsible for the pups if she's pregnant.

But what about those poor guinea pigs sold to pet stores with no chance? Then what?

You apparently know absolutely nothing about what this forum stands for. We are trying to stop the sales of small animals in petstores. If people STOP buying them, then the demand goes away and the petstores will STOP selling them. Go take a look around the kitchen forum at the threads about petstores. Maybe you will learn something.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

It is not the pet stores fault. It was in the cage with a brother whom at the time they did not know was a boy.

Then who's fault is it? The sex changing piggy fairy? Who is it that is choosing to sell guinea pigs and is not taking the time to properly sex them?

Be prepared for a vet bill that is a $1000.00 or more. She is very young, if she is pregnant, it could be a very hard pregnancy on her. Best to be prepared to do the right thing.

As for taking this pig, the petstore will now replace it with new "stock". That means another sow is sitting most likely in some horrible breeding box, brewing up a new batch of babies, that will be spoken for. By taking this pig, you encourage the next litter, simple as that, so in additon to not adopting a pig, you are the direct cause of another one being born to take your pigs spot.

One pig will sit on death row somewhere in New York, and another sow is risking her life to satisfy the petstore. Nice.

Maybe there is no rescue really close to you, but if you looked around, you can always find a pig in need of a home. Many people are available who could have helped pig train a pig to you too if you where unable to make the drive.

Don't expect understanding or support in what you did. There never is a reason to justify it. The sooner you stop trying to make it seem ok, the sooner we can just move on to better things, like how to properly take care of your pig and answering any questions you have.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

I am HONESTLY not on here to get yelled at, but the other day I decided to get my friend's guinea pig's sister from the pet store.

Like Ly, I find this funny. You obviously figured out that this forum doesn't appreciate pet store purchases or you wouldn't have begun your post with that statement. What did you expect?

It is not the pet stores fault. It was in the cage with a brother whom at the time they did not know was a boy.

And why didn't they know it was a boy? Those guinea pigs were their responsibility. Doesn't it occur to you that they should have known? If they had known and had done something about it, then perhaps your guinea pig wouldn't be pregnant.

A

re you just expecting me to just leave her and her possible babies to die just beacause she was sold to a pet store?

Leaving her there is *exactly* what I expect. Purchasing that one particular pig might help that one particular pig, but that's all. That action also condemns one or two other pigs to have to take her place. Like I said before, are you going to feel sorry for those pigs that replace her? Are you going to go buy them too, so that they don't possibly have babies and die? Don't those pigs deserve your pity as well?

Of course you're not going to go buy every pig that pet store has; that is the problem with the pity predicament. You feel sorry for one, buy it, and then have no qualms about the ones that take the place of the one you bought.

Pigs don't only have complications at delivery. Your pig could get sick at any moment, particularly since she came from a pet store. Pet stores pigs are notorious for having health problems, from mites to URIs. If you have no money right now to take her to the vet, what are you going to do if she gets sick? What if she develops a bladder stone tomorrow? What are you going to do? If you don't have money for a vet, you shouldn't have a pet.

There's nothing in the world wrong with WAITING to get a pet until you have the money to take care of it and provide for all its needs.

You obviously do not know me and my situation

I know all I need to from the information you provided. You bought a guinea pig. You don't have enough money to take it to the vet. What else is there to know?

This is not a live chat room. You do not need to tell me to come "finish" this conversation. I am not on this forum all day long and will reply when I have time and if I feel it's necessary.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

FIRST OF ALL JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT I INTENDED FOR YOU TO HELP ME WITH! My gosh! You are screaming at me because I decided to buy a guinea pig instead of saving an older guinea pig and the facts are, that the shelters near me DO NOT have any guinea pigs! I can buy a guinea pig or adopt one but the facts are still the same I own a guinea pig and I asked for YOUR help on whether to tell if she was pregnant so don't be giving me all this crap about my decision that is already made. I decided to post how I got it because if I didn't give you enough info then then you would not know the whole story and assume wrong (in which you did any way). Plus the people at the pet store at which I have bought from (twice) are very nice and DO care for the guinea pigs and the people who WORK there are not perfect! Especially when the guinea pigs were only 6 weeks old, it IS difficult to sex them. Now will SOMEBODY who is SANE on here, please answer my question in which I came on here for: "How can I tell if my guinea pig is pregnant? " PERIOD. That is all I asked. I obviously was wrong to give you the background info. And are you honestly saying that JUST BECAUSE I cannot afford one hundred dollars or so to spend on the vet JUST for the vet to tell me if she is or is not pregnant, that I am a TERRIBLE guinea pig owner and that I should not own ANY or provide a good home with?I love them and if they desperately need me to get them medical help, I WILL! So let's all forget I mentioned anything but the actual question part and just help me!

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

Now will SOMEBODY who is SANE on here, please answer my question in which I came on here for

You can drop your attitude right now. You do not get to a) dictate how people respond to your posts; b) be disrespectful to the moderators; and c) name call on this forum. Consider this a warning.

Plus the people at the pet store at which I have bought from (twice) are very nice and DO care for the guinea pigs

Caring about animals and being knowledgeable about them are two different things. Obviously, these employees are not knowledgeable about guinea pigs. It can be challenging, yes, to determine the sex of a guinea pig. If they couldn't do it themselves, then they should have found someone who could, like an experience cavy-savvy vet. The guinea pigs should have been housed separately until someone knowledgeable had sexed them. Obviously, that didn't happen, if you suspect your pig is pregnant.

You are screaming at me because I decided to buy a guinea pig instead of saving an older guinea pig and the facts are, that the shelters near me DO NOT have any guinea pigs!

No one is screaming at you. This forum is pro-rescue. That is stated very plainly in multiple places. What did you honestly expect when you told everyone that you bought your pig at a pet store? Did you think people would say, "Gee, that's okay because there weren't any up for adoption near you?" It doesn't work that way here. You could have choosen to wait until there were guinea pigs up for adoption. You could have looked at shelters that weren't so close to you. But you did not do those things. And you don't seem to get that rescuing is a serious thing - it is not something to be flippantly dismissed because there weren't any available close to you.

And are you honestly saying that JUST BECAUSE I cannot afford one hundred dollars or so to spend on the vet JUST for the vet to tell me if she is or is not pregnant, that I am a TERRIBLE guinea pig owner and that I should not own ANY or provide a good home with?

I could care less if you take your guinea pig to the vet to find out whether or not she's pregnant. This is your statement:

I cannot take her to a vet because I'm kind of on a tight budget.

Being pregnant is not the only reason to take your guinea pig to the vet. Like I said, your guinea pig could develop a URI. It could develop bladder stones. You cannot wait a month while your finances improve to take a guinea pig to the vet. You could be a very loving owner, for all I know, but it is not responsible to take animals into your care if you are unable to financially provide for their needs. You stated that you cannot afford a vet right now; therefore, I don't think it's very responsible of you to have taken on a pet at this time.

Your pig may or may not be pregnant. If it has only been 2 weeks since she was housed with a male pig, then I doubt you'll be able to tell for sure right now. You need to begin researching pregnancy and guinea pigs and treat your pig as if she is pregnant.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

I know exactly what carmelababy is saying. My wife worked at a petshop. You people totally don't understand that petstore workers love animals and try to do their best always and sometimes they may goof up or whatever but thats because they are humans. In this case I guess it is sort of the petstore worker's fault about mis-sexing the little piglets but that doesnt meen that that particular person doesnt love guinea pigs and doesnt care for them. I myself own 3 guinea pigs. Three sows all bought from petstores. They are the joy of my life (seeing as how I have no kids yet). Buying from petstores isnt promoting breeding (i guess in a small way it is) but people buy from petstores because there are guinea pigs at petstores too looking for homes. If everyone adopted from rescues then the guinea pigs at petstores would be put to sleep and guinea pigs would seize to exist. I myself live very far from any rescue. (I live near lypop farm but the closest thing to a GP they have is a hamster).

Ok, back to the point. Carmelababy bought a pregnant sow from a petstore not knowing it was pregnant. In a way it's a good thing she did. Because if the pig were to give birth in the petstore and had complications the petstore owner would just turn their cheek and pretend like nothing is happening. (I know this because like I said my wife once worked at a petstore a year ago). And at least carmelababy was given the chance to help this guinea pig and give it's babies wonderful homes that of which the petstore would not be able to provide.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

IF i absolutely had to I could borrow money or something like that to help save my guinea pig but at this moment I had to pay all my bills this month and it left me with no spending money. My parents would gladly help out.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

You have been told why you were wrong for buying a pig from a pet store. I don't think that the pet store employees are evil, just ignorant. There is a major overpopulation problem in the US and by supporting pet stores you support breeders. There is no other way to look at it, there is no way around it. But what is done is done. I just pray that you will never do it again. Because you had to get a pig from a pet store one more homeless pig goes without a home, and one more pig is breed to add to the problem.

You will have to wait and see if the pig is pregnant. Start weighing her daily. Read the links given to you. There is a lot you have to learn if your sow is indeed pregnant.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

Buying from petstores isnt promoting breeding (i guess in a small way it is)

If everyone adopted from rescues then the guinea pigs at petstores would be put to sleep and guinea pigs would seize to exist.

Hahahahahaha, whoo ok, I'm good now. Are you really serious? Seriously. So the thousands (yes I said thousands) of guinea pigs in shelters around the world should just be put to sleep because they are overflowing because they will become extinct if we give them a home? That's got ot be the most naiive thing I've ever heard. By supporting the breeding, (yes that is breeding, where did you think they got them from?) all your doing is putting more and more and more and more in shelters to sleep. How you think that's not breeding, I have no idea. I couldn't have the heart to support back yard breeders and pet mills and put pigs to sleep in shelters because it was just too cute to leave there. Whoever does has some serious problems.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

Erm... correct me if I'm wrong but you said you had a dog. I take it you take it to the vet for routine vaccinations and if it gets ill? What gives the dog more of a right to treatment over the guinea pig?

You asked the question "How do I tell if my guinea pig is pregnant?"

The answer? Take it to a vet for an ultrasound scan. Oh no, wait a minute, you won't take it to the vet...

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

Who says that I would buy from a shelter? I honestly can say that I would not. I don't have anything against shelters I am all for it but I would not get a guinea pig from one because that is where everybody gets them. I believe That pet store guinea pigs should have a chance too! So whether or not I got my new guinea pig does not help the ones in the shelters. I believe there is enough people out there to get shelter ones but all guinea pigs need a chance and since soo many people are against stores, I want to give them a good life too! So I think it is GREAT you all get from shelters but I would rather get a pregnant guinea pig that I know I can help and save and raise the babies.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

Well it's actually a lose-lose scenario. I adopt from a rescue-- a GP in a petstore is put to sleep. I buy from a petstore-- a GP at a rescue is put to sleep.

And I'm sorry if i want to take the easy way out and buy one from a petstore (that needs a home as much as one from a rescue) instead of spending over 100 dollars in gas to drive to some distant rescue.

Re: I got a new guinea pig!

Originally Posted by fourbwabbys

Hahahahahaha, whoo ok, I'm good now. Are you really serious? Seriously. So the thousands (yes I said thousands) of guinea pigs in shelters around the world should just be put to sleep because they are overflowing because they will become extinct if we give them a home? That's got ot be the most naiive thing I've ever heard. By supporting the breeding, (yes that is breeding, where did you think they got them from?) all your doing is putting more and more and more and more in shelters to sleep. How you think that's not breeding, I have no idea. I couldn't have the heart to support back yard breeders and pet mills and put pigs to sleep in shelters because it was just too cute to leave there. Whoever does has some serious problems.

ALL guinea pigs deserve a chance whether they are from shelters or from a pet store!